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No Free Chlorine


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So I can shock using liquid chlorine or bleach without having anything in the chlorine feeder? How can this keep chlorine in the pool without anything in the feeder to react with?

by adding bleach or liquid chlorine every evening to maintain your desired FC levels. Also, I would run and not walk away from that Bioguard dealer that has been draining your wallet!

I would really suggest draining and replacing some water to get your CYA down to reasonable levels.

Your Nature2 is putting copper and silver in your water (from copper sulfate and silver nitrate...read the box the replacement carts come in!) Even with the copper and silver .5 ppm residual chlorine is too low and in Australia the FC levels are kept higher with the Nature2 by law. Copper is effective as an algaecide but it is much cheaper to buy a bottle of copper based algaecide than to replace a N2 cart. In any case, copper is what turns hair green and can stain pool surfaces.

You finally have a good test kit. Now is the time to take control of your water instead of just throwing money into it.

FWIW, the two links that Polyvue gave you above...

the first was written by Ben at Pool forum (a good place to learn how to care for your pool, btw.)

the second was written by me on a board that I no longer have anything to do with since the management changed.

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Thanks waterbear

It is a whole lot easier to use a feeder and not have to put chlorine in every day (if needed). Do they make chlorine tabs without stabilizer? What is the point in having a feeder? Just keep on lowest setting. I have been using my feeder and nature2 (came with pool) for the past 6 seasons with no water problems whatsoever. I keep my chlorine above .5 even though one can with nature2. I read the box and I noticed that they even guarantee no staining (very low amounts of minerals). I never had problems and my friends and neighbors with pools much older than mine use nature2 with no problems. I am not going to start worrying now after 6 seasons. Also talked with severeral different pool techs and they all say that my levels are fine and bioguard says over 200 is high. I grew up with a pool where you only tested CL AND PH. AND I HAD NO PROBLEMS THEN. TODAY ITS GETTING NUTS WITH CYA... WHAT IS NEXT THEY WILL BE TESTING FOR. I AM GETTING AGGRAVATED WHEN I SEE BEAUTIFUL POOL WATER AND THEN HAVE TO HEAR OTHERWSE.

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Thanks waterbear

It is a whole lot easier to use a feeder and not have to put chlorine in every day (if needed).

Yes it is.

You can also use a peristaltic pump to dispense liquid chlorine automatically, use an automatic cal hypo dispenser, or use a SWG. None of these will cause your CYA to rise.

Do they make chlorine tabs without stabilizer?

NOT for use in a feeds. They do make cal hypo capsules and tablets for use in skimmers. An erosion feeder requires a slow dissolving form of chlorine. There is only one and that is a chemical made from chlorine and CYA. It is essentially CYA with three chlorines attached to it, hence the name trichlor. When the chlorine is spent the CYA remains. Every other form of chlorine is either very fast dissolving and not suitable for an erosion feeder or is liquid (not counting chlorine gas injection).

What is the point in having a feeder?

It is easy for a while. Then the problems begin but the builder was able to sell you on how easy the pool would be before the problems start and he is now long out of the picture. Just fill it up and forget it, Right? It's what sells a lot of pool builds.

I am not saying that trichlor cannot be used successfully but it does depend on several factors. First you need a sand filter and need to backwash on a regular basis (to keep diluting the water), second you need a short swim season so the CYA does rise to unmanageable heights during the swim season so you need to close the pool because you a dealing with problems, third, you should live somewhere that winterizes pools every year (water gets drained down and then replaced in the spring when you open the pool for more dilution.

Finally, the pool is NEVER shocked with dichlor, which raises CYA even faster than trichlor!

Worst case scenario is a cartridge filter or bump type DE filter (no or minimal backwashing so CYA levels climb quickly, long swim seaon (5 months or longer), pools are not winterized by kept open year round, and the use of dichlor for shocking.

Just keep on lowest setting. I have been using my feeder and nature2 (came with pool) for the past 6 seasons with no water problems whatsoever. I keep my chlorine above .5 even though one can with nature2. I read the box and I noticed that they even guarantee no staining (very low amounts of minerals). I never had problems and my friends and neighbors with pools much older than mine use nature2 with no problems. I am not going to start worrying now after 6 seasons. Also talked with severeral different pool techs and they all say that my levels are fine and bioguard says over 200 is high. I grew up with a pool where you only tested CL AND PH. AND I HAD NO PROBLEMS THEN. TODAY ITS GETTING NUTS WITH CYA... WHAT IS NEXT THEY WILL BE TESTING FOR. I AM GETTING AGGRAVATED WHEN I SEE BEAUTIFUL POOL WATER AND THEN HAVE TO HEAR OTHERWSE.

The testing of CYA has been done since the widespread use of stabilized chlorine in the 70's. It has always been necessary to test for more than just Total chlorine and pH (which is what the 2 way tester that you are most likely referring to tested for, yellow OTO test for TC and phenol red for pH.) However, there have always been uneducated pool owners that, even today, do not test for more than these two (and wonder why they need to keep spending money on algaecides, clarifiers, phosphate removers, and all the other products that are not needed in a well managed pool.

Consider yourself lucky that you have made it 6 seasons with no problems. but you have also spent $600 to $1200 on N2 cartridges in that same time frame! $600 if you only replace the cartridge once a year because the swim season is less than 6 months or $1200 if you replace the cartridge every 6 months as Zodiac say is required to maintain "sanitized" water. Hopefully, you have been buying baking soda and washing soda for TA and PH control instead of paying the pool store inflated prices for the same chemicals! (EXACTLY the same, in fact!)

Your N2 will certainly keep the water looking clear since copper is an algaecide (just look at all the algaecides based on copper at the pool store!) yet clear water does not always mean sanitized water.

FWIW, the relationship between chlorine's effectiveness and CYA has been known since the 70's also but if people were told that they had to exchange water every time their CYA got too high it would really put a damper on the sale of trichlor (and Bioguard's parent company, Chemtura--who are the ones that say CYA up to 200 ppm is fine, is a major manufacture of chlorinated isocyanurates (trichlor and dichlor) not only for the brands they own (Bioguard, Aqau Chem, Pool TIme, Omni, Sun, Synergy, and Guardex to name some of their US brands) but also for other companies such as Proteam and Haviland. Telling consumers not to worry about CYA not only guarantees the continued sale of chlorinated isocyanurates but also the necessary algaecides, clarifiers, and other support products needed to maintain the pool and solve problems that could be prevented in the first place by paying just a bit of attention to proper water chemistry.

If you have no problems with your pool and see beautiful pool water then why are you posting in the forum looking for help?

Like I said, consider youself lucky that in 6 years the only real problem you had was draining your wallet.

Now, you have a choice. You can continue what you have been doing and ignore all the excellent advice you have been given here

OR

you can start educating yourself on the proper way to maintain a pool (which, in essence, is how a commercial pool is maintained) and save yourself a lot of money and grief in the long run.

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Thanks again waterbear

Only posted in the forum to find out BBB method and how to initially get my pools free chlorine to increase using this method. I only keep pool open for 3 months June through August so I am buying one nature2 cartridge per year. Bear with me ( no pun intended ) it just aggravates me to find out all this wealth of info, now, and how the pool business tries to screw its customers.

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Thanks again waterbear

Only posted in the forum to find out BBB method and how to initially get my pools free chlorine to increase using this method. I only keep pool open for 3 months June through August so I am buying one nature2 cartridge per year. Bear with me ( no pun intended ) it just aggravates me to find out all this wealth of info, now, and how the pool business tries to screw its customers.

I understand the frustration. blink.gif I have worked in the industry and can tell you that bottom line is the main motivator (as in most industries) while customer care is much lower on the list.

But now you have found resources to lean how to PROPERLY care for a pool and to save a lot of money.

Take it from there and move forward. (and when you have learned how to to it and realize how much money you are saving caring for your pool you can go back to the forums and help others with your experiences).

As far as BBB, it's really not a "method" nor anything new. It's just basic pool care as practices by many commercial pool installations and using generic chemicals when possible.There is noting in BBB that any decent commercial pool operator doesn't already know. The info is just presented in a way that ANY residential pool owner can use and apply!

It boils down to properly testing your water so you know what you need to add, how much to add, and when to add it. More common sense and knowledge than anything else!cool.gif

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